


The Reorientation of Waverly Earp

by holy_ship



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-16 19:20:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11259315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holy_ship/pseuds/holy_ship
Summary: College AU. Waverly is an incoming freshman at Pennbrook University. There, she encounters Nicole Haught. Wayhaught-y things may ensue.





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I'm crap at writing summaries and whatnot, so I won't say much. Just something that came to mind tonight that I wanted to write up- seeing now if it'll garner any interest! Feel free to comment and let me know what you think! Only a few more days until S3E3 for most of us Earpers! :D

"Listen to me, little lady, you better drive carefully and text Wynonna when you get there so that we know you're safe!" Gus called to Waverly from the porch as she threw her final duffel bag haphazardly into the backseat of her car and slid into the driver's seat.

 

"I will, Gus, I promise!" Waverly shouted back through the open window, turning the key in the ignition as she did so. She was just about to take her foot off the brake pedal when a deafening "BABYGIRL, WAIT!" sounded from Gus' direction. Wynonna blew past her aunt and came bounding down the steps of the small ranch house that they had called home since they were little girls. She arrived at the car out of breath. "Hey baby sis.. I just.. wanted to give you.. this," she finished, surreptitiously looking over her shoulder at Gus as she extended her arm into the car and opened her palm to reveal a single unopened condom. "In the event that you finally decide that you're done with Chump and are ready to move onto a man with more than two brain cells to rub together."

 

Wynonna threw her head back in laughter, lifting her left leg off the ground slightly and dramatically slapping her thigh with her right hand. Waverly watched her, unamused, and waited for her to finish laughing at her own dumb joke. When her sister finally met her gaze, Waverly rolled her eyes and sarcastically thanked her older sister for the thoughtful gift. "No, really, it's great, Wynonna. Very sweet of you. Thanks, I'm going to go now. See you in a few weeks!" She eased off of the brake and made her way slowly down their long, winding driveway and out of the only town she had ever known.

*****

The drive to the Pennbrook University campus, to Waverly's new home, was two hours long. Waverly always loved longer drives, especially when she was driving alone. It gave her time to think, to cmentally work through anything and everything that was eating away at her. On this particular drive, she found her mind wandering back to Wynonna's parting words.

 

_In case you finally decide that you're done with Chump and are ready to move on.._

 

The thought of not being with Champ terrified her. He had been there with her and for her since her sophomore year of high school, and now she was moving away to follow her dreams of a degree and an education that Purgatory could never offer her. She would never leave him or move onto someone else, of that much she has always been sure. When she pictured her future, Champ was there with her along with a couple of little brats riding in the bed of his pickup truck. However, for the first time, she felt the distinct feeling of _possibility_. What if she met another guy at Pennbrook? There would be hundreds, _thousands_ , of guys there. She would have to be naive to think that there was no chance at all of someone coming in between them, and if there is one thing Waverly is _not_ , it's naive. Disturbed by these thoughts, Waverly shook her head as if to physically force them out and focused her eyes on the stretch of road ahead of her. 

 

As four o'clock rolled around and the air was beginning to cool slightly, Waverly turned into the main campus entrance and slowed to a roll, straining her eyes to read the signs that served to point all the freshman arriving for orientation in the right direction.

 

"Dammit Waverly, why didn't you remember to put your contacts in?" she quietly cursed herself aloud, coming to a stop next to a tour-guide looking person in a stiff polo who appeared a little overeager to help.

 

"Hi there! You look a little bit lost. I'd be more than happy to help point you in the right direction! I'm Greg," he stated cheerily, lifting his hand to indicate his nametag before extending it toward her in greeting.

 

**Gregory H. Shetlin - Orientation Leader**

 

Waverly plastered on her nicest smile and reached her hand to meet his and give it a firm shake. She had read somewhere that women should be sure to always have a strong, firm handshake so that they are more likely to be respected and taken seriously. She took only a moment to lament this misogyny before introducing herself. 

 

"Waverly.. Waverly Earp." Sensing that this was going to take more than a moment, she shifted the car into park.

 

"Alright, Miss Earp, where are we headed?" He looked at her expectantly, eyes bright.

 

Smirking at his enthusiasm, Waverly glanced down at the orientation materials she had gotten in the mail several weeks prior. She was to report immediately to her dorm hall to sign in and retrieve her key before heading out to any of the "cool" events geared toward incoming freshman. "I am trying to find.. let me see.." she continued to flip through the pages until she found what she was looking for. "Emerson Hall," she finished, lifting her eyes back up to meet Greg's.

 

"Oh man. You're lucky to be there. Most freshman are in Sackett Hall. That's the all freshman building. Emerson has upperclassmen too. Anyway, you ready for the directions?"

 

"You betcha. Fire away," Waverly instructed, listening closely.

 

"Okay, you're going to go to the end of this road here until you come to a stop sign. Take a right, and then Emerson will be the first building on the left. Are you in East, West, or South?"

 

Waverly glanced back down at the paper to check. "Looks like I'm in Emerson West."

 

"Alrighty then, the west wing will be the shorter part of the building on the right-hand side if you're facing it head on. You can pull your car into the quad for now while you're unloading your stuff. Good luck, Waverly! If you need anything else, you know where to find me!" he chuckled at his own joke and gave her a quick wave.

 

She smiled kindly at him and returned the wave, putting her car back into drive and continuing on toward the stop sign that Greg had mentioned. As soon as she approached the sign, Emerson Hall came into view. It was an entirely brick building with beautiful green ivy growing up the sides. The building was tall in the middle (Waverly counted seven stories) with shorter two-story wings jutting out from the sides. As promised, Emerson West was the wing coming from the right-hand side of the building and stretching out toward the road, while the taller part was set back about 100 yards.

 

"Wow," Waverly said, breathless. It's not like she had never seen or been in tall buildings before. Of course she had, it was just that this was her home now. This would be where she went to sleep and woke up every morning. She was pretty sure that the tallest building in Purgatory was only three stories high and she was awestruck thinking about how this campus was bigger in every way than her entire hometown.

 

She took a deep breath and turned into the bustling quad, ready for whatever adventures the next four years would bring.

 


	2. Moving In (Pt. 1)

Pulling into the quad, Waverly saw dozens of people milling about. As she got closer, she noticed that many of them were wearing the same shirt. Squinting her eyes, she narrowed in on one of the bright purple shirts with white letters. **Quad Squad.**

Waverly laughed to herself while she pulled as close as she could to her part of the dorm hall and slid the gear shift into park. For several moments, she simply sat in the car and watched people. Soon, it became clear that the "Quad Squad" were older students who were there to help the freshman move their stuff into the dorms. Taking a deep breath, Waverly opened the door and hopped out of her jeep.

Almost immediately, a rather good looking young man in one of the shirts spotted her and trotted over to her. "Hi, I'm Xavier Dolls. I just go by Dolls though," he stated, extending his hand in greeting. "Can I help you with some of your stuff?" Waverly shook his hand and put on her usual smile.

"I'd love some help, actually. I don't have much, but.." she trailed off, not sure what else to say. It didn't matter, though. Before she had even finished her sentence, Dolls had opened her car door and lifted out a couple of boxes. "Room number?" he asked, balancing the boxes and arching his eyebrows expectantly.

"Oh! Yes, uhh, I have it right here. Sorry. I should probably commit it to memory, huh?" she said nervously. She stuck her head and arm through her car window to retrieve the paper with her dorm information on it. "Here we go.. 206. Emerson West."

Without saying another word, Dolls turned and headed toward the door to her building. Waverly turned back to her car, grabbed the small microwave that she had brought, and quickly took off after him.

Once inside, Waverly was taken aback at how nice it was. The brick outside had been deceiving.

"Wow.." Waverly whispered to herself, eyes scanning the lobby. Dolls must have sensed her awe, smirking as he told her that the wing of Emerson Hall that she would be living in had been renovated over the summer. He expertly shuffled around people passing and ducked into a stairwell on their left-hand side. Waverly tried her best to stay close to him, but her short legs would only carry her so quickly. She took the stairs slowly, taking extra care to not fall and make an ass of herself in front of her peers.

Once she reached the top of the stairs, she found Dolls waiting for her three doors down on the left. "You said 206, right?" he asked, finger pointed toward the small plaque affixed to the wall next to the door.

"Yup, that's me!" Waverly said brightly.

"Home sweet home," Dolls said, though his voice sounded as though he didn't think it was very sweet at all. "Got your key?"

Waverly's face fell immediately. "Shit," she said under her breath, though Dolls could hear her perfectly. For the first time, he actually smiled. Waverly wasn't sure whether it was genuine, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

"Here, we'll leave this stuff outside your door and I'll walk you down to the office to grab it," he offered. Waverly brightened up and thanked him profusely.

Once back downstairs, Dolls led her down a long hallway opposite the door through which they entered. He took a left at the end of the hallway and turned back to Waverly. "This is the dorm hall office. You'll come here if you ever get locked out of your room, or if you're having any issues with your roommate or anyone else in the building, things like that."

"Oh, I won't be having any roommate issues. I actually know mine. We grew up in the same town. Her name is Chrissy," Waverly explained. Dolls stared at her with a look of confusion as if he didn't know why she was telling him any of this.

"Right.." he said, glancing toward the office counter where a couple young women sat, handing out keys. "I'll wait here for you." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Never one to be deterred, Waverly gave him a big smile and thanked him for his kindness before shuffling to the end of the line which was marked **A-K**.

Though she knew it was wrong, she eavesdropped on the two people ahead of her in line. The first was a tall, lanky young man with sandy brown hair whose name was Thomas Butler and who apparently lived in room 120. The next was a pretty girl with long, curly blond hair. Ashley Forester. Room 218.

Waverly walked up to the counter. "Name?" the girl asked, not looking up from the plastic bins in front of her. She sounded bored.

"It's Earp. Waverly Earp. E-A-R-P."

Still, the girl didn't look up, but rather rifled through the "E" section of the proper bin. Once she retrieved the bag labeled with Waverly's name, she opened it up and took out the small piece of paper inside. She scrawled what Waverly assumed was supposed to be her signature (it was very messy) and pushed the paper and pen across the counter to Waverly. "You just have to sign righ--" she stopped short as she finally lifted her head and looked at Waverly. "You, uh. You just have to sign this," she cleared her throat, "um, you know, to verify that I did in fact give you your key."

Waverly's eyebrows knitted together, wondering why the girl was acting so strangely. Did she have something on her face? She did a quick check of her clothes to be sure that she hadn't unknowingly spilled coffee on herself on the drive to campus. Once she determined that that was not in fact the case, she smiled at the girl, hoping that she was just imagining the girl behaving oddly toward her. She took her time neatly writing out her signature in her trademark loopy cursive, adding her usual heart at the end. She pushed the paper back toward the girl and smiled.

For a few moments, the girl neither said nor did anything. She didn't give Waverly her key and she didn't make conversation. She just looked at her. Just as Waverly was beginning to feel uncomfortable, the girl removed the key from the bag and handed it to her, giving her a small, shy smile.

"Thanks," Waverly said. She turned on her heel to go back to where Dolls was waiting, but an unexpected (and rather loud) "hold on!" from the girl at the counter stopped her abruptly. 

She turned back to the girl, her eyebrows raised in question. Suddenly, the girl seemed much more confident. She stood a little straighter and a small smirk played at her lips. "Do you have anybody helping you move your stuff in?" she asked. The kid that had been behind Waverly in line looked a little agitated, but the office girl didn't seem to care.

"Yeah, actually, this guy, uh," she jutted her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of Dolls, "Xavier, I think his name is?" she said. 

"Pshhh- you have THAT idiot helping you?" the girl said, clearly intending to say it loud enough for him to hear. Waverly looked over her shoulder at him. He was lifting his arms up, palms toward the ceiling as if to say _what the hell_?

Before Waverly knew it, the girl was moving out from behind the counter and through a doorway, walking right past her. "Hey Dolls, buddy, it's pretty much time for me to switch off with someone, so why don't you go show off your skills on key duty and let me help Waverly here with the rest of her stuff." The girl looked at her and smiled, patting Dolls on the back as she did so.

Dolls gave the girl a look that Waverly couldn't quite decipher. It was the kind of look you give a close friend that seems to communicate an entire message with one glance. She wasn't sure what the message was, but she watched as the girl widened her eyes at Dolls in return and shoved him towards the doorway to the office. "Thanks, buddy!" she said teasingly, laughing at Dolls' dramatic groaning. "You owe me for this, Nicole" he said sternly, as he shook his head and rolled his eyes, begrudgingly assuming his position at the counter.

 _Nicole_ , Waverly thought, _that's a nice name_. She had never known any other Nicole in her life, but she already liked this one. She laughed to herself at the girl's antics as she walked with her back down the hallway and out into the quad.

"What are you smiling about over there?" the girl asked. She had an easiness to her, and Waverly liked the way the girl spoke to her as if they hadn't met two minutes ago.

"Just what you did back there. It was funny. You two seem close," Waverly said, a gentle smile on her lips.

Nicole's answering smile was much larger. "Yeah. He's kind of an ass, but I keep him around. We share the same major, so we had a couple classes together last year." Waverly could tell by the affectionate tone to Nicole's voice that she was really fond of Dolls, and she found herself wondering if he was Nicole's boyfriend. She figured that was too personal a question to ask this near-stranger, so she decided on a more neutral one. 

"And what might that be? Your major, I mean," she asked as they came up to her jeep.

Nicole seemed to stand a little straighter before answering. "Criminal Justice. I also have a minor in chemistry. This yours?" she asked, nodding her head toward the jeep.

"Yup, this is my baby," Waverly said, patting the hood lovingly.

"Your baby, huh?" Nicole said, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. Waverly wasn't sure whether or not she was being made fun of, so she puffed her chest out a little. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?" she asked, an edge to her voice.

Nicole simply looked at her, surprise evident in her face. Waverly noted that she also looked a little impressed. "Hey, no- not at all. It's just that that's what I call my truck, too," Nicole defended, her hands raised in mock surrender. "How about I help you get the rest of this up to your room, huh?" Just as Dolls had, Nicole took it upon herself to open up the jeep herself and begin grabbing boxes.

As she did this, Waverly took the opportunity to really get a closer look at the girl. She was tall, Waverly would guess around 5'9" or 5'10". Next to Waverly's much smaller frame, she towered over her. She had shoulder-length auburn hair that was brighter and shinier in the sun than it had been inside. She wore the purple "Quad Squad" t-shirt with a pair of rather short jean shorts that showed off her long legs, and had a pair of grey converse on her feet. Waverly noticed that she had very fair skin and she wondered if the girl burned in the sun.

"What?" Nicole asked, stirring Waverly from her reverie. Embarrassed, she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. Had she been caught staring? Waverly wracked her brain for a response, but came up empty. "See something you like?" Nicole asked, one side of her mouth curling up into a smirk.

"No! I mean, I don't.. I wasn't-" Waverly sputtered, unable to string together a coherent sentence. She continued to try to think of something to say until the girl laughed and interrupted her.

"Waverly, I'm kidding. I was just teasing you, I'm sorry. My bad. Let's get the rest of this up to your room," she suggested, lifting what Waverly knew to be a very heavy box with ease.

Rather than risk doing or saying anything else that would embarrass her, she slung a duffel bag across her body, threw a backpack over her shoulder, and headed off after Nicole.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I'm going to do this chapter/part of the story in two parts- this first part was obviously primarily from Waverly's POV, the next will be Nicole's. I may continue to do this throughout the story. Let me know what you think!


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